The Hungarian State Opera and the Erkel Theatre are to gain new a art studios and rehearsal centre. Establishing and equipping the new centre as well as preparing the refurbishment of the Opera House in Andrássy Avenue is to be financed by the government up to 14.425 billion HUF, announced Péter Hoppál, State Secretary for Culture and Szilveszter Ókovács, General Director of the Hungarian State Opera.

On 6 February, 2016 the special guest star of the Shakespeare Ball organized by the Hungarian State Opera is Plácido Domingo. One important feature of the ball revived in 2014 is that the greatest figures of the world of opera and ballet are invited to this exclusive event. The appearance of Domingo is extraordinary as it is the first time this significant personality of the classical music scene of the 20th and 21st centuries sings on the stage of the Opera House.

The most prestigious awards were presented to three opera singers, a ballet dancer and a member of the orchestra on 29 June, 2016 on the stage of the Erkel Theatre. The Chamber Singer for the 2015/16 season are Eszter Sümegi, Ildikó Komlósi and István Kovácsházi. Chamber Artist is cellist Endre Balog, the Étoile title was awarded to ballerina Lili Felméry.

The Night of Stars gala is a spectacular show to celebrate the best moments of the past season: the stage is graced by the greatest of the great, as well as the most promising young performers at the Erkel Theatre on 29 June from 7 p.m. The event is screened at St Stephen's Basilica in front of several thousand people in what is one of the summer's top free events. A collection is made by employees of Hungarian Interchurch Aid to assist disaster victims in Hungary. During the gala the recipients of the prestigious Chamber Singer, Etoile and Chamber Artist awards are announced.

The Opera’s ballet company will close both The Month of Dance and the season with The Karamazovs in Boris Eifman’s now-classic choreography. In addition to telling the well-known story in the language of dance, this grand ballet also explores the characters’ swirling minds, their complex relationships with each other and their internal struggles. The production will be staged at the Erkel Theatre from June 20, in a performance by the Hungarian National Ballet.

Similar to 2014 when the Strauss150 Festival crowned our 130th season, the Faust225 Festival aims to present the most concentrated event of this season on the 225th anniversary of the first publication of Goethe’s Faust – A Fragment. Five brilliant pieces built on the topic of Faust can be heard (among them the premiere of Gounod’s opera and the Hungarian premiere of Busoni’s work), with a rarity concert by the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra to conclude the series that spans over two weeks featuring world-wide acclaimed Hungarian singers and international guest stars.

Events

'The riddles are three, but death is one... Ice that sets you aflame, but grows colder from the fire. White and dark. If she sets you free, you'll become her slave. If she takes you as her slave, you'll become a king. Come here, stranger, you who are pale with terror. What is this ice that makes you burn?'
Turandot: Carlo Gozzi's stage play about the beautiful but cold-blooded Chinese princess and her riddles has inspired countless artists over the years, none more so than Giacomo Puccini, who used it as the basis for his final and perhaps most marvellous opera, although his death left it incomplete. At the world premiere, after the moment Liů stabs herself to avoid revealing Calaf's name, conductor Arturo Toscanini gestured for the orchestra to pause and turned to face the audience. 'This,' he told them, 'is where the Maestro put down his pen.'
Balázs Kovalik's spectacular production shows the work in its full glory.

The mandarins announce the emperor's decree in the streets of Peking: he who solves Princess Turandot's riddles will win her hand. The crowd is ecstatically waiting for the execution of the Persian prince who has failed the latest trial - and then, feeling sympathy, beg for his life. But Turandot refuses to show mercy.

In spite of this heartless cruelty a new suitor appears: the Tartar prince in exile, Calàf. He will not listen to anyone, he always goes his own way, and now challenges his fate: he enters the palace.

The responsibilities of office and the chore of balancing various interests and requirements have already exhausted the three ministers, who are dreaming of a peaceful civilian way of life.

Turandot presents three riddles to the brave candidate. Calàf replies to the first two correctly. Then Turandot presents the third riddle:

'Ice which gives you fire

and which your fire

freezes still more!

Lily-white and dark,

if it allows you your freedom

it makes you a slave;

if it accepts you as a slave

it makes you a King!'

Calàf's reply is correct: 'Turandot'.

But the way to find the other one can only be right if it departs from the beaten track. The smallest of deceits, self-delusion or dishonesty leads us on a wild goose chase. Thus, Calàf is dissatisfied with his rapid success, and now it is his turn to ask a question from Turandot: 'Tell me my name - Who am I?'

All Peking is trying to discover the stranger's name, when the slave girl Liù appears, who refuses to reveal her master's name in spite of torture. Her determination is fuelled by love, and this hopeless emotion drives her to suicide. Liù's death creates a situation where there is no place for pretence - the mask should fall, and the actor must reveal himself. Before resurrection one must be destroyed so that we can be born again like a phoenix from the ashes. It could even be called love.